Youngs, Richard & Simon Wickham Smith / Lake

Vhf

Originally issued in an edition of 300 on their No Fans label and for all intents and purposes unavailable and unheard for a decade, the 10th anniversary CD-ification of their classic debut double-LP still sounds as revelatory and alien as it did when it was released. Tracks like the immortal collage freak-out "Dance: Help The Aged (Give Them A Heart Attack)," the minimal pulse epic "Chord," and the psych-fuzz rock mania of "Goat" have been undiluted in their majesty by the unbearable decade that has elapsed between then and now. Deep breath, keep the eyes from rolling back in the head, focus, focus, highest rating.  "We're listening to Lake close on a decade since we recorded it. Just as it sounds odd now, what we do today would've sounded bizarre then. We couldn't make this record now. It's like a ghost - so long ago. We've moved on. Our label name, No Fans, was a statement of fact; the record was a dare to ourselves - who in their right mind would ever release anything like this? With No Fans, No Distribution and No Prospect of either, spending over £1,000 on a vanity project when most of our peers were doing sensible things smacked of arrogance. In an ironic bid to launch Lake, a Goat Evening was held in Nottingham at the home of Neil Campbell and Jim Plaistow. Though everyone had a good time, by the end of the evening no-one had bought the album, so we gave away copies to the three people who had shown any interest. Which left 297 copies. The situation was more ridiculous than ever."  -Simon Wickham-Smith 

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